{"id":264069,"date":"2020-08-05T01:08:43","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T05:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=264069"},"modified":"2020-08-05T01:08:43","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T05:08:43","slug":"still-no-need-to-sell-govt-assets-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/08\/05\/still-no-need-to-sell-govt-assets-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Still no need to sell gov\u2019t assets: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday said it does not yet see a need for the government to sell public properties to boost the social amelioration program (SAP) funding in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ). (PNA File Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday said it does not yet see a need for the government to sell public properties to boost the social amelioration program (SAP) funding in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the remark after President Rodrigo Duterte, in a public address late Sunday night, again bared that the government is running out of funds to provide cash aid for low-income households under MECQ.<\/p>\n

Duterte previously broached the idea of selling public properties if the government falls short of funds that could be tapped to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.<\/p>\n

However, according to Roque, the government has billions in loans secured from other countries and foreign organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u00a0ang pangako naman ng Presidente, maski ubos na ang ating<\/em>\u00a0budget,\u00a0kaya naman na, unang-una, gamitin natin iyong mga salapi na mauutang natin. Iyan naman po ang kabutihan na napakaganda ng ating<\/em>\u00a0credit rating \u2013\u00a0madali tayong makautang na mas maliit ang<\/em>\u00a0interes (Well, the President promised that even if we run out of funds, we can use every peso from our loans. That\u2019s the benefit of our good credit rating \u2013 we can easily secure loans with little interest),\u201d he said in a virtual Palace briefing.<\/p>\n

While he does not see the sale of public properties necessary at this point, Roque said they could be sold as a last resort.<\/p>\n

\u201cKung hindi pa sapat, talagang ibibenta niya ang ari-arian ng gobyerno. Pero sa ngayon naman po, hindi pa po kinakailangan dahil tayo naman po ay nagma<\/em>-manage as of now (If it\u2019s not enough, he will really sell them. But at this point in time, it is not necessary because we can still manage),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque acknowledged that looking for a source of funding for the supposed third tranche of cash aid is a \u201cbig challenge\u201d since Congress has yet to approve the \u201cBayanihan 2\u201d bill that contains a stimulus package for the country\u2019s recovery from the impact of Covid-19.<\/p>\n

The Senate last week passed the Bayanihan 2 bill while the House of Representatives has yet to pass its version of the measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cMedyo malaking hamon po talaga itong ayuda para sa<\/em>\u00a0third tranche\u00a0para dito sa<\/em>\u00a0Metro Manila\u00a0at mga karatig na probinsiya ng<\/em>\u00a0Metro Manila,\u00a0pero hahanapan po natin ng paraan iyan<\/em>\u00a0(Giving assistance for the third tranche is really a big challenge in Metro Manila and nearby provinces but we will find a way),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has maintained that there is no need to sell state assets because the government entered the pandemic on a strong fiscal position.<\/p>\n

Dominguez also cited government borrowings intended to finance the Covid-19 response.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Roque said the Palace would hold on to the promise of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to finish distributing the second tranche of cash aid by the second week of August.<\/p>\n

\u201cMahigit kalahati na po ng<\/em>\u00a0second tranche\u00a0ay napamigay. Ang hinihingi lang po ng<\/em>\u00a0DSWD,\u00a0hanggang<\/em>\u00a0mid-August\u00a0para matapos iyong<\/em>\u00a0100 percent (Almost half of the second tranche has been distributed. The DSWD is asking for a deadline until mid-August to meet the 100 percent),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As of Monday, the DSWD has distributed PHP61.8 billion worth of cash aid to some 9.5 million poor households.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday said it does not yet see a need for the government to sell public properties to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":264093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264094,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264069\/revisions\/264094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}